"Humor is one of the best ingredients of survival." – Aung San Suu Kyi Bites and stings Bugs are an integral part of our ecosystem and are a constant feature of our daily lives. It is inevitable that during a survival situation somebody will get bitten or stung. Mosquitoes While mosquito bites are generally nothing more than an annoyance, there are...

"Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it" - Lou Holtz Bleeding Whether during the initial incident or the journey to safety, there are numerous abrasive or pointed ways to end up losing blood. The average adult has five – six liters of blood in their body. If we lose one – t...

"We are all faced with a series of great opportunities - brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems" - John W. Gardner Dehydration Dehydration is a potential issue in survival situations. Dehydration occurs when water intake does not replace water lost due to normal physiologic processes, or other causes, including diarrhea, and vomiting. Dehydrat...

"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see" - Henry David Thoreau Blisters Blisters are a common injury and can hamper a successful attempt to reach safety. Blisters occur when the harder surface skin starts to separate from the softer skin underneath. The warm and sweaty conditions inside our footwear while walking back to safety a...

"Life is the art of drawing without an eraser" - John W. Gardner Twisted ankle or knee According to a study of search and rescue volunteers, soft tissue injuries are the most common thing that people need rescuing for. An injury to our upper extremity might be inconvenient but an injury to our lower body joints can have serious impact on our journe...

"Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance." – Samuel Johnson In part one we looked at navigating by what we can see in the sky. What if we are presented with a situation where there is no sun during the day and the moon and stars are not visible at night. There are still aids to navigation all around us. These aids require us t...

"There's nothing more gratifying than being able to depend on your own abilities." – Tom Ralston Whether we've slid off what was left of a road during a snowstorm or parted company with our equine "friend" on the trail, we're going to have to consider, at some point, how we're going to get back to civilization. Irrespective of how accomplished our ...

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." ― Benjamin Franklin Any time you're more than a few hours from advanced medical aid, an otherwise easily treatable injury can become significantly more problematic. When things happen off the beaten track, out of cellphone reception range, you need to have the knowledge, equipment and skill set to ...

"Water is the driving force in nature." ― Leonardo da Vinci As discussed in part 1's "Rule of 3's" water is vital to our survival and should be towards the top of our priority list. Do NOT wait until you are thirsty before you start looking for a water supply. The possible effects of taking that one little thirst quenching sip could severely impact...

"The fire is the main comfort of the camp, whether in summer or winter and is about as ample at one season as at another. It is as well for cheerfulness as for warmth and dryness." — Henry David Thoreau In part 1 we looked at the rule of 3's and how it helped determine our priorities in a survival situation. Although during the warmer months we may...